Recipes - Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake
The cake is the centre of any birthday tea, and most people seem to like chocolate cake, so I have combined the two here. The addition of ground nuts, which have been toasted first, adds a wonderful flavour, and indeed take the place of flour.
Always remember, the better the chocolate, the better the finished cake or whatever. I use Green & Black's, with 70 per cent cocoa butter.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm (8 in) cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Break the chocolate into small pieces, and melt carefully in a bowl standing over a pan of hot water. Do not let the water touch the bowl.
Separate four of the eggs. Put the yolks and the two whole eggs into a bowl, along with the sugar, and whisk until thick and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Toast the ground almonds and hazelnuts quickly - do not over-colour - and leave to cool.
Add the toasted ground nuts, liquid coffee and melted chocolate to the egg mixture, then gently fold in the whisked egg white.
Pour this into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cover with a piece of foil, and bake for a further 30 minutes. (To check if cooked, plunge a skewer into the centre; it will come out with no uncooked cake on it.)
Remove the tin from the oven, and leave to sit for 10 minutes. Take the cake out of the tin, and leave to cool on a wire cake rack.
For the topping, melt the apricot jam in a small pan, brush over the outside of the cake, and allow to cool. Boil the cream in a small pan, then take off the heat. Add the chocolate pieces, and stir in until melted. Beat in the soft butter. Allow to cool slightly before pouring on to the cake. Use a palette knife to smooth over.
Leave to set a little before serving.
